Saru mo ki kara ochiru
by howl-with-despair
Summary: It all started with a dream- sounds corny, huh? But this isn't your average "started-with-a-dream" story. Takes place after ToD. No harsh reviews, please; first fanfic!
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank (no matter how much I want to). They belong to Insomniac. I do, however, own CeCe. No stealy my character.**

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_Things in my life were never easy. They have never been easy- and as far as I know they never will be_

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**Chapter One**

I sighed and rolled over on my bed, plopping my copy of _New Moon_ on my nightstand. The minutes seemed like hours as I waited for this day to end. I checked the time on my alarm clock: _6:15_. I sighed.

Might as well introduce myself. My name is CeCelia Marie Celanta-Ana... But people just call me CeCe. I am 15 years old. I have semi-long, curly dark brown hair with blond highlights and bright, light blue eyes. I like Classic Rock, Emo, and Punk Rock music and pretty much wish I owned Hot Topic. When I'm spending my time in Hot Topic or playing DDR at arcades, I'm lazy- pretty much like I am right now.

I mean, at least I had something to do eight hours a weekday when it came to school. Now that summer was here I was forced to find something to keep me busy and my mind from wandering too far- that is, unless my friend Sam makes me come outside for a few hours. School time was also the time I was away from my family; with two brats following you everywhere around the house and a mother that constantly hovers, it's nice to have some periods of time to myself- even if they were sometimes short.

Only two weeks of summer vacation have gone by and I was wishing that school would just come back already.

I looked at my clock again: _6:20_.

_ Guess I'll take a small nap,_ I decided as I rolled onto my stomach and laid my head onto my pillow. _My dreams are always useless and stupid anyway- plus, I need to escape reality for a little bit._

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_'Run, run, run, jump!' I ordered myself as I ran down an alleyway, dodging a trash can as I heard gunshots behind me. Adrenaline ran through my veins and sweat trickled down my face._

_I couldn't make out what the apocalyptic city was, or the name red desert that surrounded it. It was chaos here, though; robots were running everywhere, shooting everyone and everything in their path. Dead bodies were sprawled on the ground and building were broken and ruined. _

_I was the robots' next target._

_As a bullet passed my ear, I tried to remember how I'd gotten here. If I had a choice of coming here, I wouldn't have. 'I'm starting to have a strange feeling that I had to finish something that I had started,' I thought as I managed to climb up a chain-link fence. 'Huh…weird.'_

_After about a minute I flung myself onto the top of a large building, hoping my enemies couldn't aim well while I was up here. My hopes were short-lived, though, when I heard metallic footsteps making their way towards me. A deafening mixture of a 'bang' and a 'pop' later and searing pain ran through my right shoulder and blood trailed behind me._

_'Those freaking idiots actually got me!'_

_Time seemed to move quickly, and I soon found myself running towards the edge of the rooftop I was running on; it was facing the side of a semi-ruined building that looked like it was made of mirrors. I saw my reflection and saw just how much blood was coming out of my shoulder. The sight of it made me want to gag- and I realized something I hadn't been thinking of because of the adrenaline and I suddenly felt sick: I was going to have to jump was I? Oh, God. This rooftop was, what, ten stories high? I skidded to a stop at the very edge and tried to think of better options. Their metallic footsteps were coming closer._

_'Jump!' I tried to command my body. I started to sweat and looked around. No railings, no flag poles, no pipes- oh, God. Please no. 'Jump, you idiot! They're coming closer!!' My feet wouldn't move. 'Jump!' I can't do it- I won't. There must be some other way- I heard a click. 'JUMP!!!!!'_

_And I did. I jumped just before they shot the bullet. As I free-falled, I heard the glass of the building break from the force of the bullet and some of the shattered pieces hit my head, giving one of the biggest headaches of my life. Strangely enough, I felt free- as free as while about to face death was, anyway. Just for the hell of it, I did a couple of back flips and smiled to myself. 'Certain death, here I come.' I thought cheerily, opening my eyes a little bit so I could see the black street below me. _

_Just as I was counting the seconds it would take to go 'splat' on the blacktop in my head, I saw the reflection of a gloved hand reaching for my dark brown, wind-blown hair on the side of the building. Something that looked like gold fur was on the person's arm and it ruffled in the wind as it reached toward me. I turned to see the person's face-_

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"CeCe! CeCe!"

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned. The hell? My eyes widened a bit. My dream! What happened in my dream? The person- it was reaching for me and I was trying to see it's face. Anger boiled in my stomach. The one dream I wanted to see the rest of and I just had to wake up! Damn. Would it come back if I went to sleep again?

"CeCe, get up!"

I realized that whoever was calling my name had caused me to wake up. I put a pillow over my head, causing the person's voice to sound muffled, and tried to force myself back to sleep. Whoever was telling me to get up didn't stop; in fact it sounded like that it was yelling now. "Just let me sleep, dammit," I muttered. I wanted to punch this person in the face. Why wouldn't it just leave me alone?

And then the pillow was thrown off my head and I felt some weight on my back. Strands of blond hair brushed against my cheek. I bared my teeth. "Leia, I swear to God," I began to warn the blond girl who was now straddling my back and giggling at me. "If you don't get off me-"

She cut me off with a _tsking_ sound. "Threats? Is that really how you treat people, CeCe?" This was one of the two brats I had mentioned before, with Leia being the older of the two. The other one was Lacy. Unlike me, they were natural blonds while I was born with dark brown, curly hair (I had wanted to dye it black, but Mom wouldn't let me.) that was a pain in the ass to brush. They were outgoing while I preferred sitting in my room drawing and playing _Guitar Hero _or going on the computer and reading fanfictions or online manga. The only thing I had in common with them was the fact that all three of us had light blue eyes.

Leia cocked an eyebrow and gave a teasing smile that seemed to annoy the hell out of me. "And were you baring your teeth at me? You're not a werewolf." She muttered something along the lines of "no matter how much you want to be one." I sighed.

"Just get off my back." I told her firmly, anxious to see the rest of my dream. "I'm trying to sleep."

"I don't think I will," she said in a sing-song voice. "Mom wants you to come with us to go shopping." I gave a "hell, no" face. Shopping with Mom was the worst; our last shopping trip involved with her telling me about how much I wear too much black and neon colors- after she told me I should wear brighter colors. Meanwhile, Lacy was screaming at Mom because she couldn't buy a game she liked, causing everyone in the store to stare.

Leia frowned. "She said to either come downstairs, or to be grounded from your drums for a week." My eyes widened. Mom had gotten me a drum set for my 11th birthday. I practiced nearly 24/7 on them and had actually gotten really good at playing them; I was hoping in starting a band soon. Remembering this, I gave in.

"Fine, I'll go."

* * *

"Can you hold this for me? CeCe? CeCe!"

I turned down my black iPod as I realized that Mom was talking to me. For the fifth time I gave Leia a glare. She smiled.

"It was either this or not playing your drums," she reminded me. "Besides, I didn't tell you where we were going." I hated it when she was right.

When I gave in and went shopping, I thought that maybe we were going to Super Wal-Mart or something to get clothes or maybe grab a bite to eat at Subway or something. Turns out that our 'shopping trip' was to the supermarket, where I as usual had to carry bags of apples, and bottles of soda and sometimes a pound of meat. The only way I could survive a trip like this was by listening to my music and daydream and not pay attention- which, to my liking, annoyed the hell out of my mom.

I took hold of the head of lettuce Mom had been asking me to carry for about five minutes and turned my music back up. I didn't make eye contact with her though. Since it would end up being more about criticizing something about me- how my dad just oh so happened to make me like rock music and forced me to listen to it (even though he didn't; I grew to like it overtime), my taste in semi-Gothic/Emo/punk rock clothes, etc.- we wouldn't make conversation. I had to admit that I did feel guilty when I saw her sad face, but I just can't take the criticism and insults; I got enough of them from girls in my school who wore tight jeans that always seem up their ass. Newsflash: it doesn't make you look cute, it makes you look like a slut.

Walking down the aisle with the magazines and books (my favorite aisle, by the way) and heading towards the frozen goods with my mom, a certain article on the front page of a magazine caught my eye:

**NEW ASTRONOMICAL EVENT: LEGENDARY STAR SHOOTING THAT HASN'T HAPPENED IN ABOUT 90YEARS TAKES PLACE TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT.**

Huh. That was happening tonight? It wasn't that I really cared. It was just that I usually don't have anything to do at night. Getting closer to the frozens, I realized I should've checked the article to see where it was taking place.

"It's taking place at the park near our house."

I jumped at the voice and turned to see Leia. I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "It was on the news this morning. You know, I never saw shooting stars before. I bet they're really pretty. It has always been my dream-" I sighed as she continued to talk about how she had always wanted to see shooting stars and study astronomy (even though it's a bunch of crap- just look at her grades in Science).

"You want to sneak out with me to see them, don't you?" I cut her off, asking the obvious. She gave a sheepish smile. I sighed. "Tell Mom, and you're dead. Got it?"

She nodded and we ran to catch up with Mom and Lacy. Sneaking out with Leia. _This should be interesting.

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	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Ratchet and Clank!**

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**Chapter Two**

"I'm starting to think this isn't such a good idea, CeCe." Leia said for about the tenth time that night. I sighed in frustration.

"If you don't think it's such a good idea, then why did you come?" We were only about five minutes away from the park, where we would be meeting my friend Sam. She had brought a giant blanket and some snack food for us. For some reason, Leia had finally decided twenty minutes earlier- back at home in my room- that sneaking out probably wasn't a good idea. She continued to sneak with me anyway.

"Well, I would still be nice to see them," she said. "I'm just afraid Lacy will tell Mom." We had made the mistake of telling Lacy, the biggest tattle-tale, about our plans. She had started crying and had told us that she wouldn't stop until we told her what was going on. I had to give in; she was getting annoying and her cries were becoming high-pitched. We bribed her with candy to keep her quiet. I'm pretty sure she was in bed smiling and whispering "I've got a secret," over and over like a giddy idiot. Little brat...

"CeCe!" Sam's voice called out as she came bounding over, her short red hair flowing behind her and her freckled nose scrunching in a smile. Sam was my best friend; I've known her since Kindergarten. We both like the same things: manga, anime, video games, we even liked the same taste in clothing and snacks. She handed us a blanket and gave me a box of strawberry Pocky while Leia wasn't looking; she loves these things as much as I do. I took a bite of one and smiled to myself, enjoying the sweetness of my most favorite snack.

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"Whoa, look at that one!" Leia pointed to a shooting star and closed her eyes tightly, making a wish for the tenth time tonight. _Be careful what you wish for._ I silently told her, devouring another stick of Pocky. I looked over to Sam and maybe start another _Twilight Saga _conversation only to find her doing the same thing as Leia. I sighed and looked up at the stars shooting across the sky. They were beautiful.

_What the hell! Guess I'll give it a shot._ I thought while shrugging my shoulders and closing my eyes. Almost instantly, the vision of the arm reaching for my hair in my dream came to mind. I could see the golden fur on the arm with perfect detail, as well as the dark brown leather and black stitching of the glove. _I wish... _I started and hesitated a bit. _I wish I could see who the person in my dream was._

I felt the ground shaking under my hands and I opened my eyes just as everyone started screaming.

"Run!"

"Something's coming this way!!"

"What is that?!"

I grabbed Leia's hand as Sam quickly gathered our blanket and snacks (including the Pocky, thank you very much). I looked back and was almost blinded by a bright blue light coming towards us; I ran faster. We took shelter behind some rocks just as the glowing object flew past us and crashed about twelve inches deep into the ground a few yards away. Leia shivered and clung tightly to my arm, digging her face into my shoulder. People started running over to investigate. One teen spoke into a video camera as he ran over, documenting what had just happened. I looked over at Sam, unsure of what to do. She shrugged her shoulders and ran over with everybody else. I comforted Leia enough for her to move and we soon ran over. As I reached the object, I stared in awe when I got to see some of its detail. Leia looked at me in wonder.

"It's... it's a ship." I confirmed, almost not believing it.

Sam and Leia stared at me in surprise and I walked closer to the strange aircraft implanted in the ground before us. I reached out and felt cool metal meet my fingertips. "Yeah," I confirmed. "Here's the nose of it." I tapped the pointed front of the ship to show them I was right. I skimmed my hand over the side. 'And here's one of the wings," I said when I reached it. I took out my phone and flipped it open, getting enough light from the screen to see the dark red paint. "There's some kind of writing on the side here," I informed them as I looked at the strange yellow symbols that had seemed to be painted there. I looked through the window: nothing in there.

"Are you saying that aliens have landed?" Sam asked. People gasped and murmured even though the question was rhetorical. I thought it over.

"What else would you say was going on here?" I finally finished. "That this is all some kind of dream? That in about a minute we'll all wake up to find ourselves in our rooms or find out that this thing is just a toy? 'Cause if its a toy, it looks and feels pretty freakin' real." Sam stared at me wide-eyed and a few people cheered a bit. Leia sneaked over next to me and slowly placed her palm against the wing and traced the symbols with her fingertips.

"It... it does feel real, Sam," she said, actually looking excited, like she was five years old on Christmas morning again (and I don't see why she wouldn't be; I mean, a freakin' space ship!). She smiled and squeezed my hand, silently telling me that she had my back on this one. "Looks real, too."

The teenager with the camera came up and felt the side too, filming as he did so. He pointed the camera at me (which I hated; I never liked to be the center of attention.). "What do we do with it?"

_This kind of shit would be normal if we were in an anime. _I sighed. "We'll need to cover it up; I'll take a closer look at it when the lighting's better." I instructed.

"I brought a car cover to sit on," a teen spoke up. "It should fit over it."

"Won't people try to see what's under it?" Leia asked.

"I can get some traffic cones," another kid said. "My uncle works at the firehouse near here."

I smiled, surprised how the plan seemed to work. "Alright, let's cover this thing up- we'll come back here around noon and look at it some more."

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"Wouldn't it be cool if there really was some sort of alien in that ship?" Leia asked as we made our way down the street to our house. It was about 2 am.

"If by cool, you mean impossible than yes: it _would _be cool." I took a bite of another stick of Pocky.

"Well, you sounded really leaderish out there," she in formed me with a smile. "I guess watching sci-fi anime pays off in the long run." I chuckled as she imitated a military official. "'We attack at dawn! Let's go! Go, go, go!'"

I stopped laughing as something in the bushes across the street caught my eye; something that looked like feet being dragged into the bushes.

"CeCe? What are you-" Leia saw it too, staring as the feet kept being dragged into the bushes. We stared in surprise- and then we were running over as quick as we could. As we made our way over, we tripped and ended up on the ground facing... a robot? A little robot. Huh. It wasn't the robot that made my jaw drop, though: it was what it was pulling.

It was pulling a long human-like figure in dark red and black armor. A helmet covered it's face, and there were two weirdly shaped plates near the top of the head. The robot ran away as we started getting to our feet.

"CeCe, what is that?" Leia asked me looking both scared and in awe. I lightly tapped the toe of my Osiris sneaker against the thing's leg, waiting for signs of it moving. It didn't move at all. It was breathing, though. Leia looked up at me in question. "Do you think it came from that ship?"

"To tell you the truth," I said. "I'm not completely sure." I took off my ACDC hoodie and lifted the body to place it on my jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"If this thing is from that ship, we can't just leave it out here." I finished and instructed Leia to grab the ends of my hoodie and lifted the body up. "Besides, we can't just stand here gawking at it; we have to get home."

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After about five minutes of carrying this thing home and two minutes of sneaking it upstairs, I was finally able to sit on my bed and rest. Leia paced in front of me.

"Okay, so lets say this thing **is **an alien," she said. "What do we do with it?"

"The only way we'll find out if it's an alien," I paused and grunted when I tried to tear the thick elastic material between two plates on the thing's helmet. "Is to get this helmet off," I grunted again, trying harder and failing. "And look at it's face."

I too busy trying to pry it open, so I didn't notice Leia walk to the body's side and press something on it's helmet. It opened automatically with a small pop.

_Get ready to shit some bricks,_ I prepared myself, slowly pulling the rest of the helmet off. I slipped it off...

And dropped it in shock.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Lunch!" I announced, bringing in a tray of soup and a glass of soda into my room. His emerald green eyes held a look of doubt and distrust and he kept a small frown on his face. I sighed.

The creature under the helmet and armor turned out to be something... well, amazing. It was a male cat-like creature (he wouldn't tell us what species of alien he was.), with it's large triangular ears and tail. With the armor removed, he had a slim frame; his body was covered in golden fur with light brown stripes and long light blond locks that reached his shoulders. I found that he had three toes with a claw on each when I removed his boots. He also had very sharp teeth; I should know- he bit me when he woke up.

* * *

_"HOLY SHIT!" I half-yelled, dropping the helmet and trying to keep my voice down. I stared at the strange creature in amazement._

_Leia gasped. "What is that thing?"_

_I didn't answer, only stared at the furry creature in awe. It's face had a peaceful expression despite the cut under it's left eye. It's blond hair was sprawled all over the pillow on my bed. Without thinking, I reached over and felt it's face. 'So soft...' I thought. 'And its such a beautiful golden color-' Something clicked in my brain and the vision of the golden arm reaching for my hair entered my thoughts._

_"What did you say, CeCe?" I heard Leia's voice ask, her voice sounding confused. "You muttered something about a dream."_

_I shook my head. 'This was the person trying to save me in my dream; I know it is.' I removed the chest plates of the armor and uncovered the arms. Yup, I knew it- it was wearing dark brown gloves underneath. I also uncovered the legs and sighed with relief when I saw the pair of sweatpants it was wearing underneath. "It's a male," I said. Leia raised an eyebrow._

_"How do you-?"_

_"No breasts- plus I'm not checking..." I motioned at the thing's sweatpants with my head and Leia blushed a little, nodding slowly._

_I reached my hand out again and placed my hand against the male creature's chest. The chest was moving, and the heart was beating slow. I stroked his chest lightly and sighed in contentment, loving how soft the fur was. I closed my eyes and smiled._

_"CeCe? You might wanna open your eyes."_

_I opened them a bit and saw his body stir and I looked up. The male's brows furrowed and he grunted. I stayed still. After a moment he finally opened his eyes completely and looked around the room until his eyes landed on my face. _

_'His eyes are such a pretty color," I thought, looking at his emerald eyes. I mentally shook my head. 'What am I thinking? I don't even know what he is!'_

_He continued to stare at me, his mouth open a little. I swallowed._

_"Hi there." I tried, keeping my voice low and friendly. I smiled. "How are you feeling? You were out for a while." I reached out to try and shake his hand. "I'm-" _

_A sudden sharp pain in my hand made me stop. And I yowled. 'What the hell?!?' I looked and saw blood coming from my hand. 'He bit me! The dumbass bit me!' He didn't let go and I thought I heard a (some-what sexy) growl come from his throat (at least, it would've been sexy if I wasn't in pain.). I hit the top of his head and he let go; the crash in the park must of given him a aftermath headache. He growled some more and positioned into what looked like a feral crouch. I rubbed my hand._

_"Who are you?!" His voice was so deep and loud; it startled me and made me jump a bit. He bared his teeth and snarled. "Answer me!"_

_Leia stepped in front of me with a stapler in her right hand. "Hey! We'll tell you who we are if you just sit the hell down!" She glared pure hatred. "And bite my sister again and I'll kick your furry ass!"_

_He looked shocked for a minute and finally sat down. Leia smiled in satisfaction._

_"Tell me who you are and I might not hurt you," he said to us in a calmer tone. His face didn't hide his slight frustration, though. "Can't make any promises." Leia gave him a warning look and waited for me to speak._

_"I'm CeCe," I finally stated, carefully watching his face._

_He nodded. "Why am I here?"_

_I motioned over at Leia. "Me and my sister Leia were in a park watching stars shoot across the sky. A ship crashed while we were there," I paused. "**Your **ship, I believe."_

_"Did it have dark red paint? Weird symbols painted on it?" I nodded and he groaned. "Damn. So, how did I get here?" He gestured around my room with his hand._

_"This one robot was dragging you into some bushes near our house. It ran when we came over to investigate." _

_He raised his eyebrows when I mentioned the robot. 'Must've struck a nerve?'_

_He hesitated. "What did the robot look like?"_

_As confused as I was, I answered. "Some little round robot. It had arms but no legs; it hovered as a way of walking."_

_His expression fell a bit and waited for me to finish what happened._

_"When it ran, we carried you here." I looked him up and down. "The only injuries you seem to have are the cut under your eye and the bones in your tail seem to be broken; it looked all disfigured when you stood up. Consider yourself lucky."_

_He looked at the floor. "My ship's busted," It wasn't a question, more like a statement._

_I nodded. "And there's nowhere else you can stay."_

_He looked me in the eye. "I don't completely trust you."_

_"I know- and I'm okay with that." I smiled. "You're only staying here until you heal. Once that happens, you can fix your ship and go back to wherever you came from."_

_He looked at me for a moment. "What galaxy am I in?"_

_"The Milky Way Galaxy. The planet you're on is Earth."  
_

_He sighed after a moment. "Until then only."_

_I walked over and slowly extended my good hand. He waited a moment and finally took my hand in his.

* * *

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I looked at my now bandaged hand in memory. _No need crying over it with a flashback. Time to feed the jerk. _

I placed the tray on his blanketed lap and sat down in my swivel chair, grabbing my copy of _New Moon_ and picking a chapter. Leia flipped through channels on my TV. After about ten minutes I looked up. He was looking at the bowl of soup and cup of soda. The steam coming from the bowl gave me the hint that he hadn't even touched it. _Hmm, he **looks **hungry. I can hear his stomach growling. _Realization hit me a second later. I groaned. Is he seriously gonna make me do this?

I went back downstairs and grabbed an extra spoon and cup. I looked out one of our house windows to see if Mom's car was in the driveway. She had gone off to work, but I wanted to make sure that I could hide Him if she came back home early.

After making sure, I walked back to my room. I strode over to my bed and took a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and gulped it down. He watched me carefully as I poured some of the soda into my cup and drank it. He watched me again for a minute and finally took his spoon and ate. I shook my head in disbelief.

"I warned that I didn't completely trust you," he reminded me between spoonfuls.

"But yo don't have to act like I'm probably gonna poison you. Me and Leia carried you here to safety; in fact, you might have been picked up by a scientist if we hadn't found you." I pointed at his bandaged tail. "I realigned the bones in your tail, cleaned your cut before it could get an infection, and made you some food and let you sleep in my bed. The least you could do is treat me like a respectable host."

"A bitchy one," I heard him mutter before he took a sip of soda.

I resisted the urge to choke him.

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	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank!!  
**

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**Chapter Four**

Leia quit flipping through the channels on her sister's TV. CeCe had left about two minutes ago to check up with the kids from the park, the ones that had witnessed the crash. Leia had wanted to go, but CeCe had insisted on her sister staying here and making sure He didn't try anything. But there was nothing on TV, she couldn't go downstairs, and He was sleeping as a result to his belly being full.

"I'm bored," Lacy sighed, running her small hands through the sleeping creature's hair. The action caused him to smile in his sleep. They had told Lacy about him a while ago when she had suddenly walked in on them. Leia had expected Lacy to scream and run away or at least be shocked. But to Leia's surprise she had slowly walked over to him, touch his arm, and whisper a soft comment: "Your hair is really soft." He didn't do anything to her, just smiled and replied with a small "thank you." Leia didn't know why he had suddenly acted so friendly, but there was no need to worry about it now.

Leia walked over, turned on CeCe's Wii, and popped in the _Guitar Hero: World Tour_ disc. Then she took one of the Wii remotes and connected it to the guitar controller.

"CeCe's gonna be mad we touched her game," Lacy said.

Leia picked her sister's band, **DWN WIT PNK**, and entered quickplay mode. "Maybe," she said. "But there's nothing else to do in here; she's just going to have to deal." She picked a song by _System of a Down_ and started playing. Lacy watched in interest; Leia had definitely picked up her playing skills from CeCe. Mom had forced CeCe to teach Leia because she wouldn't stop whining about not being able to play, but she guessed it was worth it. As long as Leia asked first, she could play as much as she wanted and it was a great way to spend time together.

"Is this _System of a Down_?"

Leia had zoned everything and everyone else out, so she was startled when she heard the once sleeping creature behind her. She paused the game after missing a couple of notes and turned. He was looking at her with a calm expression. She smiled.

"Yeah," she said.

"_B.Y.O.B._, right?"

Leia nodded. "You know who the band is?"

"Some of the bands I listen to back at home are from foreign galaxies," he explained, clearly a little uncomfortable with keeping the conversation up.

"Never thought you'd be talking to me after I threatened you with a stapler."

He shrugged. "You stood up for your sister; gotta at least give you credit for it." He then looked at the TV screen. "What game is this?"

Leia showed him the guitar controller. "It's called _Guitar Hero_. You have to hit the notes when they come up to earn points. If you stop, though, the music stops with it."

"Looks fun," he said softly. He hesitated, looking at his hands, which were folded neatly on his lap.

Leia smiled. "Wanna learn how to play?"

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"Wow, you're getting really good," Leia said about ten minutes later, almost shocked beyond words. She watched as he hit a 230 note streak. He was on the expert level. It only took him ten freakin' minutes to get on expert; it had taken CeCe about two years to get this far! _CeCe's going to be pissed when she finds out her ego's being bruised._

"Do **all** the _Guitar Hero_ games have the drums and mic?" He had been asking questions about the games since he started playing. Leia was amazed that he even trusted her enough to keep up a conversation. He hadn't told her his name, but a conversation was a good starting step- even though he still seemed a little uncomfortable.

"No," she replied. "Only this one- that's why its called 'World Tour'."

"ALRIGHT!! 100%!" Lacy threw her arms in the air and jumped on CeCe's bed. Then she hugged the furry creature with a "congrats", making him laugh. Leia smiled.

He looked over at her. "Is that a good thing?"

"Yep," Leia said. "Means that you're better than CeCe by a long shot!"

He frowned at the mention of CeCe's name, probably imagining how she was gonna torture him for being better than her. He shuddered. Lacy unwrapped her arms from his neck.

"We're sorry she's acting the way she is," she apologized.

He gave her a sweet smile. "She always act that way?"

"No," Leia said. He cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, causing her to chuckle. "At least, not all the time. She's actually really nice. Once she gets to know you and you get to know her, her attitude will go away." And it was true. CeCe might be stubborn at times, but she always seemed to make friends easyily once they got to know her. Leia looked down at the floor in thought. "It'd be easier to talk to him if I knew his name," she mumbled, even though she didn't mean to say it out loud. She scolded herself, _Stop trying to push him for info! You're lucky he's even talking to-_

"Ratchet."

Leia looked up in surprise. "Excuse me?" Had she heard correctly?

He gave a small, hesitated smile. "My name's Ratchet."

* * *

I looked at my phone: 12:55. I sighed. _Damn kid with the camera made me late._ _Mom's going to be home soon._

When I had gotten to the park where His ship had crashed, the kid with that camera immediately ran and pointed the camera at me (have I mentioned that I don't like being the center of attention?), asking questions. I was almost tempted in giving away His location; I wanted to tell the kid about finding an alien species. But something in my mind told me to stay quiet. I sighed. _You only have to put up with him until his ship is fixed. Just try to pull through._

As I approached the house, I heard music coming from my bedroom window._ Leia must be playing my Wii,_ I thought. _She better not be on career._

I got in the house, grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk from the fridge and started my way upstairs.

_Mr. Crowley, what went on in your head?  
Oh, Mr. Crowley, did you talk to the dead?_

I stopped dead in my tracks and tilted my head, wondering where the angelic sound was coming from; whoever was singing was singing really well. It couldn't be Leia or Lacy (even though she liked to sing on the game once in a while). I started walking upstairs.

_Your lifestyle to me seemed so tragic,  
With the thrill of it all.  
You fooled all the people with magic,  
Yeah you waited on Satan's call!  
Mr. Charming, did you think you were pure?  
Mr Alarming, in nocturnal rapport.  
Uncovering things that were sacred, manifest on this Earth.  
Oh, conceived in the eye of a secret, yeah they scattered the afterbirth!_

I continued my way up as the first of the two guitar solos of the song started, keeping my head tilted to hear the music better. I heard Lacy yell something along the lines of "A 50 phrase streak!" and Leia cheered. I also heard a deep laugh of success. _Wait a minute..._ I knew that sound... I walked up to my bedroom door.

Lacy was sitting on my bed, bouncing on her tiny tush with joy. Leia was playing the Guitar Hero guitar. And He? He was awake, all full of life and smiling the freakin' biggest smile I've ever seen and his eyes shining like big green diamonds caught in the sun. He started headbanging to the solo and Lacy cheered. I frowned, crossing my arms and waiting for them to finish. As he began singing again, though, I started listening to his voice instead of waiting for them. His voice was so deep and loud when he talked, so I was amazed that he sang so beautifully. I smiled when he started headbanging to the song; he looked like a teenager at his first rock concert. _He is really an amazing creature._ My eyes widened at the thought. _Where the hell did that come from?! Get their attention,_ I scolded myself. Just as he was about to sing again, I cleared my throat.

Lacy stopped bouncing and suddenly looked scared. Leia stopped playing. The notes she missed caused the golden feline (the now in trouble golden feline, I should say) to pause the game and turn around to face me. Leia began to ramble.

"CeCe, we can explain! You see I was trying to be good and find something to do and, and," she stopped as I gave her a glare and suddenly pointed at Lacy. "It was her idea!"

Lacy stood up. "Aw, shut up," she yelled. "It was your idea." She turned to me. "She's lying, I swear! I was just petting his hair," she said, pointing to him. He seemed to blush and looked away. "And I was waiting to see if he would wake up. Leia suggested we go outside-"

"What?!?" Leia had interrupted her. "I didn't suggest anything! YOU were the one complaining about being bored."

Lacy looked at me before saying "Well, I told you to ask CeCe if you could play her game first, but you said she would 'have to deal!'"

I growled before Leia could protest. "That's not why I'm mad! I'm not mad because you touched the Wii." I pointed at the creature on my bed and he straightened his back and shoulders in question. "When did the jerk-"

"Ratchet." Leia gave me a straight face as she said it.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Ratchet," she said again as she set the guitar controller down. "His name's Ratchet." She looked at the alien (who was now completely slouching like before, probably relieved that he wasn't in complete trouble), looking as if she was silently asking him a question. After a moment he nodded, then he turned back to wait for me to finish. Lacy put her arms around his waist as if to protect him from any harsh comments I might blurt out and he stroked the top her head with a smile. _Since when did he get all friendly and nice?  
_

I sighed in frustration. "Fine," I began again. "When did Ratchet get up? How long was he up? I thought we agreed that you'd call me when he did?"

Leia fiddled with her thumbs. "I was playing the game when he woke up; he asked me what band it was."

"_System of a Down_," he said with a giant grin. "**Awesome** band." I gave him a look that told him to not interrupt.

"Yet you didn't-" My question was cut off when I heard a car park outside. I leaned over Ratchet's lap and looked out my window. Mom's blue Saturn was parked in our driveway outside. I heard footsteps heading upstairs.

_Oh, crap.

* * *

_

**Thanks, readers, for being patient with me! XD**

**I've been really busy with school and such, so this chapter took a while to complete. Read and review! ^_^  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Ratchet and Clank!**

**------------------------------------------------------  
**

**Chapter Five**

I hurried downstairs and blocked Mom's way.

"Hey, Mom," I said with a smile. "I was thinking I'd make you something- go sit down!" i had to keep her distracted so she wouldn't go in my room.

She looked confused. "But, its after 2 o' clock. And I'm not tired; I'm just getting changed so I can clean the house."

_Think of something!_ "Well, um," I heard silent thumps coming from upstairs and my eyes widened.

Mom must have heard them too. She gave me a serious look. "What are you and your sisters up to?"

"Nothing!" I was about to say, but then there was a loud _bang _and I heard Ratchet shout "OW!" while Leia and Lacy hissed "Shut up! Mom's gonna hear you!" Sweat broke on my brow. I looked at Mom again and gave a small smile and a nervous laugh. "Um, they're watching my... anime?" I suggested.

Mom cocked an eyebrow. "You **never **let them watch your anime." She tried to move me over, but I stayed put. "CeCe, let me up! You three _must _be up to something." After about a minute's struggle, she managed to get through. I grabbed her arm and pulled, but she made her way upstairs, me body being dragged as she went. I closed my eyes when we made it to my room, waiting for her to scream at the sight of Ratchet and yell at us for bringing something that might be dangerous, but she didn't scream. I opened my eyes; she was looking around. I looked over at my bed. Leia and Lacy had set a Trouble game board on a lump- almost like a little hill - coming from the bed covers.

_Wait a minute... Is it moving?_

Leia turned around and smiled. "Hi, Mom," she said with a wave. "Back already?"

Mom didn't answer. She looked over at my TV. I looked too. They must of heard what I suggested downstairs; one of my anime DVDs- _Soul Eater_, apparently- was playing. It was at the part where Soul falls into Witch Blair's bath. Her body on the screen was halfway covered by suds as she asked him if he was okay, causing him to have a major nosebleed (or sex-bleed, as I call it). Mom gave a sigh.

"I thought we went over this!" She walked over to my TV and took the anime disc out of it. She waved it in front of my sisters. "You're too young to watch this series!" She handed it to me. "Let them watch this again and you're in serious trouble." I gave a nod and she walked out of the room. Then, once she had grabbed some loose clothing out of her room, she went into the downstairs bathroom to get changed.

Leia let out a sigh of relief and nudged the little hill. "You can come out now," she said as Lacy removed the game board. She lifted the covers to reveal Ratchet curled up into a ball on his side. He sat up and stretched; I heard his joints crack. He checked his tail to make sure it hadn't been bent while he was under there. I admit, I was surprised they were able to hide him so quickly. It was so clever, so smart so- so _me_. Suffice to say, I had taught them well.

I gave a small laugh. "You guys scared me for a minute."

Leia smiled. "We would have been quieter if Ratchet hadn't yelled-"

"You hit my tail," he accused.

"I didn't hit it that hard!"

Lacy decided to continue, "We hid your throw pillows under the bed and put Ratchet under the covers to make it look like we put them under there."

I smiled. "Pretty good, for a split second plan."

She put on a blank face. "It was better than any split second plan you ever came up with."

_Touche. _I shook my head with a laugh. Then my nose wrinkled in disgust. "What smells like smoke and sweat?"

We all turned to Ratchet, who was now standing up and looking at my collection of anime DVDs and novels. "Oh, sorry," he said sarcastically. "Were you talking about me?"

I waved my hand in front of my nose. "Go take a shower later,"

He frowned. "My tail's broken."

"Stick it out the shower curtain," I said. "Just **please **try to take a shower sooner or later. Sooner would be the best choice."

"Well, since you said please," I heard him mutter. I took one of my pillows and threw it at his shoulder.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" I had heard the shower turn of about twenty minutes ago, but Ratchet still hadn't come out of the bathroom. _He's worst than me in my morning shower._

Mom had fallen asleep after cleaning the house, so I took advantage and convinced Ratchet to clean himself up; I even gave him a pair of sweats that would probably fit him. I had also warned him about not clogging the drain (which made him give me the bird and giving Leia and Lacy something new to learn).

Leia picked at her fingernails and gave a suggestive smile. "I'm sure he'll be out soon," she said, hoping I wouldn't yell at him when he finally came out.

A few seconds later, Leia gave a sigh of relief when Ratchet came out, his hair ruffled and little water droplets dripping off the ends, with a grimace. His brows were furrowed. "Did you have to give me womens sweats?" He gestured the pants I had given him; they were black with Happy Bunny on them. They were my second favorite pair, my most favorite being my black and red plaids.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I'm a girl," I pointed out. "Were you expecting any different? Besides, your pants are dirty. Be lucky they even fit you."

He groaned and sat back down on my bed. I noticed how his fur seemed to glow and shine under the light of my lamp. I couldn't help but stare; it gave off such a pretty glow. I scolded myself,_ Say something before he catches you staring!_ I cleared my throat. "Did you take so long just to keep your fur semi-wet?" God, I sounded stupid!

He pointed his finger at me. "**You **try drying your body when every inch of it is fur without making it go 'poof,'" he said. "It drives ya nuts!"

I walked out with a small "whatever" and went into the bathroom. I closed the door, took a handful of water and splashed my face. _I was looking at Ratchet like some horny schoolgirl!_ I looked at my reflection in the mirror. _Am I falling in love with him or something?_

God, I seriously hope not.

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**At least this chapter didn't take me as long to complete! XD;**

**I'm surprised I actually have readers- not that I was insecure about my writing or anything! I just never really thought of people enjoying my writing.... *blushes*  
Read and review! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank!**

**------------------------------------------------------  
**

**Chapter 6**

"Are you sure about this? What if it doesn't work?" I was still worried even though I knew what his answer was.

"Don't worry; its around my waist, activated and fully charged."

You're probably confused, right? Who wouldn't; I was talking about how I was staring at Ratchet earlier!

It had been three months and seven days since the last chapter. Why the big flash forward? Simple: because the author was too lazy to write three months of events. Let me try to sum it up without boring you one way or another: Me and Ratchet don't fight much anymore- I even actually started to like him. We get in minor arguments, but other than that we chat like normal teens (even though he isn't a teen; I found out a few days ago that he's 24). And he _had _caught me staring at him after his shower; I had overheard him talking to Leia about it a while back. God was that embarrassing.

Over the time he was here, he had built a device that made him look like a human to other humans (which was the thing that he was wearing around his waist now) that lasts up to 20 hours. For some reason, I don't see him as a human on the outside unless I looked at his reflection in a mirror when it was activated. We still hadn't figured out why that is. Because of the disguise, I was able to introduce him to Mom and lie that he was my friend named Jason. Instead of seeing a furry catish creature in his twenties, she saw a dark blond, tanned boy around the age of 17. She looked suspicious at first, but decided to trust him after a few minutes. She was probably hoping that he would be my boyfriend or something (Ick.) I had also convinced her that his parents would be out of town for a few months and asked if he could stay over when he got lonely. She agreed to that as well. When he pretended to leave, he would sneak to my bedroom window near the back of the house, climb up the roof (awesome and graceful athlete, that's him), and Leia would open the window to let him in; lucky for us, view to my window is blocked off by some trees, so the neighbors couldn't see him climb in.

Sam had almost seen his true form when she stopped by unexpected. Ratchet had hid in my walk-in closet before she could see him and silently activated it before coming out and asking "Where did you say the game board was?" He had shaken her hand and been polite. We played Trouble and Clue together. Unfortunately, she seemed to be focusing on his butt only when he got up instead of her scores. Strangely, her look made me jealous as shit. Oh, well... Moving on.

His tail had also healed, which is why we were on our way to look at his ship. Me and the kid with the camera (who's name was Alex, he had told me) had been updating news about the ship to the other kids who were there when it crashed and making sure it hadn't and hasn't been touched by any adults or kids. Alex didn't know about Ratchet, nor was I ready to reveal Ratchet's alien form. I had, however, told him about a kid named Jason who was amazing with machines and a mechanic-in-training. I had instructed Alex to bring a toolbox to the ship's crash site.

I continued to rant in a worried and anxious tone as the park and Alex's form came into view. "But what if it deactivates or something?"

He gave me a blank look. "Wow. You're a constant downer, huh?" He smiled after saying it, hoping I recognized the line. I grinned as a way to confirm that I did and was about to say "Ring, ring. Hello?" when I heard Alex speak.

"You're late," he said as we neared him. As usual, his video camera was on a lanyard and hung from his neck. In his right hand was a black toolbox. He was sitting on the covered nose of the ship, I noticed. Ratchet tensed as he noticed as well, probably worried it was getting dented more and more because under his weight.

I quick squeezed his hand in a way that told him "relax" before saying, "I know. We had trouble finding each other; it was my first time coming to his house." I made sure to remember that I had told him I was picking up "Jason".

Ratchet gave a fake smile, trying to not snap at Alex about him sitting on his ship. "Dummy got lost a few streets down," he joked, chuckling. He stuck his hand out. I noticed the slight shaking of his shoulders, arms and hands; he was mad. "I'm Jason."

Alex shook his hand and looked nervous; he must of noticed the shaking, too. I spoke up before Ratchet snapped.

"How 'bout we let Jason take a look at the ship."

Alex gave a look of "much obliged" and slid off while handing Ratchet the toolbox. Ratchet calmed some and started to pull off the cover. I did a 360 to make sure no one was looking out a window or something.

He slid his hand across one of the ship's wings and for a moment a flash of emotion flew across his pupils. It showed that he cared about the ship, and he wasn't gonna give up untilo it was fixed. _A true mechanic._

"He okay?" I turned mt eyes away from Ratchet and looked at Alex. He seemed confused on Ratchet's transfixed expression. I smiled.

"Yeah," I said. "He's fine. And I'm pretty sure he'll get it fixed and started again." _And then he can go back home._ I frowned at the thought.

_Its not like you're gonna miss him,_ one part of my mind said.

_Yes you are,_ the other side shouted. _CeCe and Rathcet sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-_

_Be quiet! Don't make fun of her just because she's friends with him._

_She's too attached. I mean, why can't she just kiss him already? I know she wants to!  
_

"Shut up!"

I hadn't realized that I had shouted until both of the boys turned their heads towards me with freaked expressions. I felt my face heat up.

"I'm just going to go sit down," I said while making my way towards a park bench.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Whew! Done. Yes, I realize that you're probably wondering what happened during the three months. I'm hoping to write the events in a side story.**

**Whoever can guess where I got the "constant downer" and "ring ring. hello?" lines gets a cookie. ;)**

**Read and review! ^_^  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Ratchet and Clank!!  
**

**---------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 7**

"The engine of my ship requires something that I can't find on Earth," Ratchet explained on our way back to the house, turning to make sure Alex hadn't been following us. "What I need fell into pieces when I crashed here." I cocked an eyebrow in question.

"And that would be?"

He gave a sheepish smile. "I have no clue," he said. "I don't know much about Lombax technology, yet."

"'Lombax?'"

"My species."

I nodded and couldn't help but wonder about his family, whether he had brothers or sisters or maybe both. I decided I would ask him later. "Can you fix it anyway?"

He thought for a minute. "I can try to contact one of my friends from here," he suggested. "It'll probably take a few weeks, though if he can try and make his way, into your galaxy let alone Earth. Maybe a year."

_Meaning that he'll be able to stay longer,_ the one part of my brain (which I now called my brain angel, who actually cared about my emotions) told me with much interest. The other part (which I called my brain devil who didn't give a _shit _about them and could probably care less) snickered. I ignored them both.

"Why a friend?"

Ratchet chuckled a bit. "He's... kind of a nerd. He knows more than I do about technology," he said. "If I can call him, maybe you could talk to 'em." He paused, suddenly hesitant. "That is, if you want to."

I raised my brows. "You trust me that much, huh?"

"We're practically best friends, aren't we?"

He seemed unsure when he said the word "friend". I smiled anyway. "Yeah, I guess we are." I nodded. "Sure, I'd love to talk to him."

* * *

"Hand me that screwdriver." I did as I was told and waited until he needed something else.

We told Leia and Lacy what we were going to do once we got home. Leia had given him our old house phone to mess with. The toolbox that Alex said we could borrow was sitting to his right on the bed. He attached a small disc to some wires and stopped for a minute. Then, reaching into the toolbox, he pulled out a pair of pliers.

Leia took a closer look at the phone. "Who are you callin' again?"

"A friend of mine," Ratchet said while cutting a blue wire. "I need to ask him about my ship."

She didn't ask any further questions, only examined Ratchet's too large hands delicately messing with the wires. She seemed awestruck. I was too, to tell you the truth. I don't think anyone could have done it better than him. I had to give him credit for that.

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After about 2 hours, Ratchet stopped to take a break, and we were soon all bored in the silence. My brain devil suggested we play '7 Minutes in Heaven'. I punched her- mentally, of course. After a while I looked over at Ratchet. I had let him borrow one of my t-shirts and a pair of mens jeans I had stuck at the bottom of my drawer. I felt bad for him. _He needs new clothes..._

A smile broke on my face as I went downstairs with an idea.

"Hey, Mom!"

She was sitting on the couch watching Nanny 911, wearing her green scrubs and and white pajama top. Her attention broke away from one of the screaming kids of the family the nanny was visiting to look up at me.

"Me and Jason are bored," I told her, pointing my thumb towards the stairs. "I was wondering if maybe you could drop us off at the Mall." She raised a brow. I scowled; I knew what she was thinking. "To hang out."

"You got money on you?"

"Plenty of it." I took out my fat wallet and used it to fan my face. She thought for a minute.

"Fine," she finally decided. She got up to grab her car keys and jacket.

* * *

Ratchet had seemed nervous when we first entered the Mall. He had noted that he felt like "a small insect standing in front of fly paper." Wimp.

"Why'd you take me here again?" He looked around at the Mall's giant signs and stores and checked to make sure his disguise was activated.

I pulled at his arm a bit. "I felt bad about you not having guys clothes. You need new stuff to wear. And besides," I looked over to the food court. "You need to get some fresh air and better food. Socialize a bit."

Even though his catty nose perked up at the mention of new food, he still seemed a little hesitant. "I don't know-"

"Would you rather keep wearing womens sweats? I could even throw you in a lace top." I smirked, knowing that would be enough to persuade him, and easily pulled him along to get some food.

We settled for Chinese food about 5 minutes later, Ratchet slurping his Lo mein greedily and me enjoying the Burbon chicken and white rice.

I smiled. "Good?" I asked, happy to see him truly enjoying things on Earth besides me and my books. He nodded, unable to talk with his mouth full of noodles. "Better be; cost me $16 for the whole meal."

He swallowed. "Where you taking me first?"

I took out a map of the mall, unfolded it, and laid it out on the table. Some of the areas were circled in Sharpie.

"I was thinking first we could go to Hot Topic," I pointed to one of the circles. "It's my favorite, and they might have stuff you'd like. Then Spencers. And I thought we'd check out Borders. Get you some new manga to read."

He smiled at that and took a sip of soda.

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"Brian!" I shouted to one of the employees behind the counter.

We were now in Hot Topic. Well, I was anyway. Ratchet was standing outside of it despite my encouraging to come in. A man with a slight black beard and full head of curly thick hair in his mid-20s looked up and smiled. We've known each other since he started working here at the age of 18. We became good friends as he saw me more and more in the store, even updating me of new arrivals in the store by e-mail.

"Hey, CeCe," he said while giving me a high five. "Back again? I got some new stuff you might like, but I forgot to send you an e-mail."

"I'll take a look later. I'm here with my friend," I informed. "I thought of getting him some new stuff to wear." I turned my head towards Ratchet, who was taking a small step into the store but still seeming as though he wasn't sure whether it was okay.

Brian frowned. "He okay?"

"He's not from this state." I lied smoothly. "So, he's not used to it; he's a little shy with everything." I waved him over and he finally stepped in completely and made his way over to us, observing the dark interior and rock T-shirts hanging on the walls. I could see his large ears twitch and his mouth scrunch up in a wince whenever he heard the extremely heavy metal guitar playing on the overhead. Poor Ratchet; his ears must be sensitive, their sense of hearing being more advanced than mine.

He seemed a little dazed when he made his way over. "Brian, this is Jason," I said. "Jason, this is Brian. We knew each other since he started working here."

Ratchet rubbed his ears a bit and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said after clearing his throat. Brian shook his hand, despite the weirdness from earlier.

"So, you're not from this state?" Brian asked. Ratchet went along with the lie I made up and nodded. "What state are you from then?" Ratchet twitched, not expecting the question to actually be asked. I decided to answer.

"He's from Connecticut." I said. Ratchet relaxed. "He moved here with his parents and I thought he'd like clothes from here."

Brian nodded. "So," he said and turned to Ratchet. "What can I find ya? T-shirts? Skinny jeans?"

"I'll be helping him," I said quickly while Ratchet stood with a confused look on his face. Brian chuckled.

"Might as well let the pro find him something," he muttered with a grin. "I'll leave it to you than." With that he walked away to help a customer that had just walked in. I turned to Ratchet with a giant smile.

"Well, let's get to it!"

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**Oh my God! *faints* 'Kay, so I'm gonna leave it there for now since I'm so late in uploading chapters! Oh! And here! I made 12 cookies as a way to apologize to you guys! Make sure to save one for *Draconlaris, who got the reference from chapter 6 correctly: Charlie the Unicorn! The sidestory for the first month of the 3 month gap between chapters 5 and 6 shall be posted soon *this I swear*.  
**

**Read and review! ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank!!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Numerous groans came from Hot Topic's curtain-covered dressing room and a few bumps as I heard Ratchet hit his elbow on the wall. I sighed.

"Ratch, they're just pants," I told him, standing outside the curtain. "Not really hard to put on." He groaned again and sighed in near defeat. Then he tried again. I waited.

"He okay in there?" Brian chuckled. I smiled a bit.

"Yeah, he's fine," I half-lied. "He's never tried this stuff on before, so-" A small sound of a zipper interrupted me. and I felt the curtain opening behind me. Ratchet stepped out.

I think I blushed a little.

The neon colored Miami Ink shirt fit well on his slightly muscular chest and did no good to hide his wide strong shoulders. He looked good in the dark purple skinny jeans, the ruffled edges brushing against the Osiris sneakers I chose for him (largest size, naturally, those big feet of his!). Black wristbands, the tips of his bangs sprayed black and a studded choker made him look just plain cool... and some-what hot. I whistled. He turned to look in the mirror and smiled to himself.

"You look good," I observed, brushing off a little fuzzy on his right shoulder. "You like it?" He nodded eagerly, slowly messing with his golden bangs, slanting them this way and that. I ripped off the tags. "Scan these up for me," I told Brian. Ratchet's brows shot up in surprise.

"But these probably cost a lot," he said. "Are you sure?"

I took out some cash to pay for his outfit. "You like it, you look damn good in it, so I'm buying it for ya whether you like it or not." I teased/confirmed. After we payed, I led him out of the store and took a right. "C'mon," I told him. "Let's see what else we can find. I need some new games and you need some new books to read."

* * *

We were almost to Gamestop, Ratchet's hands full of manga and anime DVDs I bought for him at FYE and mine holding a DOMO plushie. Ratchet stopped and his ears perked up when he heard music. I listened, too: _System of a Down_. His favorite band of all time. It seemed that it was coming from the store. He ran over, almost dropping his things. I followed suit.

There was a Rock Band 2 demo set up to a large TV on one of the store's walls. A guy with red hair was singing _Chop Suey_, but not as well as Ratchet if he'd be the one singing it. A young girl with black hair was wailing on the drum pads while another's hand was blurred as it slammed down the strum bar of the guitar controller. They looked strangely alike and I realized they were twins.

Ratchet rocked his hips as a way to dance to the song's beat without dropping his stuff. I giggled.

"You know," I told him. "You sound better." A lot better- better than anyone I've ever heard. I wasn't gonna say it out loud, though.

He stopped with a grin. I knew what he was thinking. I took his stuff out of his hands and started to walk over with him.

"Those circles on the vocals highway," I informed him before we got there. "When they come up you tap the microphone like a tambourine." He nodded as we finally made our way over. The kid that had been singing had gotten a 95%. Boy was he gonna be surprised.

"Hey," Ratchet said to him. The kid turned around. "Bet ya I could do better."

The kid gave a smug smile and flipped his hair. He winked at me; I shuddered and Ratchet tensed with disgust. The girls that had been playing a minute ago rolled their eyes.

"If you think you can do better," the kid said while not taking his eyes off of me. "How 'bout we make a deal? If you don't live up to your brags," He gave a cocky, toothy smile. "Then I get your hot-ass girlfriend there."

I blushed, but not sure of what: the fact that this guy thought that I was hot or that he thought I was Ratchet's girlfriend. Ratchet curled his lip in and almost let out a low snarl. He quick-walked up, yanked the mic out of the kid's hands, and picked replay. I gave my own cocky smile to the loser who was trying- and failing- to get me to go with him instead.

"He'll beat your score, you know." I told him. "He'd be able to beat your score with his eyes blindfolded." I looked over at Ratchet, who was now shaking a bit with eagerness to show off and sing a song from his favorite band. Almost like a little kid about to play his favorite video game, knowing he was going to win. I gave a sweet smile this time, like the kind of smile a parent makes when they hear that their child has been awarded a medal or a trophy. A smile that showed that I was kinda... proud? Happy? I wasn't sure; the feeling was new to me and it felt strange.

The kid snorted. "If you're so sure the loser can beat me," he said. I curled my lip and, unlike Ratchet, let out a snarl as feral as I could make it.

"Don't call my friend a loser," I growled in the kid's face, close enough that his red hair brushed against my forehead. His widened a bit for a split second before turning to Ratchet, who was in the middle of the song.

_Wake up  
Grab a brush and put a little makeup__  
Hide the scars to fade away the shake up  
(Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup)  
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?  
Here you go create another fable_

_You want to  
Grab a brush and put a little makeup  
You want to  
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup  
You want to  
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?  
You want to_

_I don't think you trust  
In my self righteous suicide  
I cry when angels deserve to die  
In my self righteous suicide  
I cry when angels deserve to die_

The look on the kid's face was hilarious when he saw Ratchet's score was hilarious, what with the whole bug eyes and fish-out-of-water impression. Ratchet looked comepletely into the song. His eyes were closed, a look of complete daze on is relaxed face. People had started to gather around to watch and listen to him sing, cheering and clappng their hands. Two of the people included the twins that were here with the jackass. I put on a giant smile and cheered myself.

_Father, father, father, father!  
Father into your hands, I commend my spirit  
Father into your hands  
Why have you forsaken me?_

Ratchet had his one hand on his temples, his eyes still tightly closed, like he was in total agony.

_In you eyes forsaken me  
In your thoughts forsaken me  
In you heart forsaken me, oh_

_Trust in my self righteous suicide  
I cry when angels deserve to die  
In my self righteous suicide  
I cry when angels deserve to die_

The cheers given by the people that had gathered earlier was deafening as he sang the last line and the kid's face looking like he was about to pass out as the screen showed Ratchet's 100% score was almost hilarious. I would've laughed if I wasn't running over and wrapping my arms around around Ratchet's shoulders as he laughed and cheered along with everybody else.

_He truly is amazing._

* * *

**'Kay... not sure what the purpose of Ratchet singing _Chop Suey_ was, but I had fun listening to the song while writing this chapter! XD  
If you haven't heard the song, you should. It's awesome.**

**So this took me a while to finish because I've been drained of energy from this cough that won't seem to go away. *grabs cough syrup* And I've been really busy with school and such. So excuse any lateness. Sorry for having to stop here.  
I forgot to mention in the last chapter: Brian is based off of this Hot Topic cashier that I see everytime I go in there who has the same hair color, style, and slight beard who's pretty much a prick but has a good sense of humor.**

**Read and review! ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank!**

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**Chapter Nine**

"I wish I was there!" Leia took a brownie off of the plate sitting in the middle of my bed, her 4th one for today since Ratchet and I got back from the mall. Mom and Lacy were at Wal-Mart shopping and had let Leia and us stay home alone, leaving a plate of brownies on the kitchen table downstairs for us to enjoy.

We had told her everything from Ratchet's reaction of the inside of the mall to the red-headed-jackass-being-shamed-at-Rock-Band-2-by-Ratchet scenario, making her laugh like crazy, almost spewing brown crumbs all over my bed.

Ratchet blushed a little and I nudged his shoulder. "Come on, you deserve the praise!" I took a bite of another brownie. "Don't look so modest about it." He looked over at me and gave a half-smile. He then chuckled.

"Yeah," he finally said. "I **was **pretty good, wasn't I?" I giggled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He then frowned. "Are you sure-"

"For the tenth time, if the outfit was too much money, I wouldn't have bought it. Don't worry about it."

"Besides, you look good in it." Leia added with a smile.

He shrugged. "Just seems that it would have cost less in bolts, is all."

I blinked and removed my arm, confused at the new term. "Bolts?"

"Currency. From my galaxy."

Leia and I looked at each other, then returned our stares back to Ratchet.

"...Bolts?"

"Bolts."

It was silent for a moment. Ratchet looked on at us. "What?"

Leia sighed. "You're lucky we're good with weird."

* * *

Amanda leaned against the sofa downstairs, relaxing and watching _House_.

Cece, Leia and Jason were already asleep when she had gotten back. She chuckled while remembering the sight: Jason resting his head on the pads of the drum controller for the Wii and snoring, the sticks on the floor. She had guessed that he dropped them when he fell asleep from exhaustion. CeCe had been sleeping on her upright with the guitar resting against her chest, her arms wrapped around it tightly and mumbling something along the lines of "Ratchet" in her sleep. Must have been the name of some video game character she liked. Leia had her head resting on CeCe's small desk, the microphone still close to her mouth, like she was going to continue singing at any moment. After putting some blankets on the sleeping teenagers, she sent Lacy up to bed.

_CeCe and Jason sharing a room together..._

Now that she thought about it, she never really seemed worried about her daughter sharing her room with him. She didn't know why, but something about him made her put trust into the 17-year-old. Plus, CeCe wouldn't be irresponsible enough to try something with him. Plus, she was happy to have Jason around. For so many years Sam was the only friend CeCe seemed to have. All the other kids would tease her, push her around. She even had to deal with this one girl bullying her physically and verbally for four years in elementary school. And no matter how many times Sam was there to comfort her, it hurt CeCe to be bullied so horribly. All the tears she shed, the cuts and bruises she received... Was that why she had become such a dark person?

Amanda wiped her eyes, not allowing herself to get emotional during her one time of relaxation.

But CeCe did seem happier. She laughs more now. Her smiles are wide and brighter, not dull and short like when she used sarcasm or her strange and dark sense of humor. Her eyes sparkled when she's around Jason and her attitude was now more lighter. It was like he was the best friend Amanda had always wished for her daughter to have. Like God had let him fall from the sky just for CeCe's happiness. She smiled.

Having Jason here was the best thing that had happened for both her and CeCe in a long time.

* * *

_"Ratchet?" His voice didn't come from my dark surroundings, making me anxious. Where was he? "Ratch? C'mon this isn't funny! Where are you?"_

_This was so weird. One minute I was in my room, the morning sun shining through my window, waking up with my Guitar Hero controller in my arms. I had heard voices coming from downstairs, dishes clanking, telling me that there was breakfast waiting. But as I walked downstairs, the voices started to fade, like I was getting farther and farther away from the them instead of getting closer, as I had hoped. When I had finally reached my destination, no one was there. Wondering if maybe they had gone outside to get some air, I ran over to the front door and opened it- and everything was different than what I had seen out my bedroom window. The morning sun had disappeared, the grass of my front lawn was gone, the porch to the house was no longer under my feet. Everything was a black background. And it was so quiet that I could hear my breathe as I inhaled and exhaled. Not knowing what to do, I decided that I'd try to find everyone._

_I hadn't found anyone yet._

_I knew this was a dream. And I knew that dreams really shouldn't bother me, especially dreams like this, but something about this dream made it seem... so real. The vibes coming from the atmosphere was giving me unbearable chills, making cold sweat run down my arms and face. But what was it that made it seem this way? Was it because I couldn't find anyone? I always knew I had a certain fear of being alone for the rest of my life, but was it really so bad that I would have these dreams all the time, starting now?_

_Or was it because that the thought of Ratchet leaving when his ship was repaired was always on my mind? Now that I thought about it, I really liked being around Ratchet. He may have been a pain in the ass when he first came here, but having him around was a nice change. I was bored with only hanging around with Sam, just walking around the neighborhood and going swimming every once in a while. I liked it better when we were younger, when we could find more fun things to do and act like we had all the time in the world. But growing up isn't exactly an option for us. Plus, Ratchet seemed to know me better, despite the fact we haven't know each other for long._

_But where was he now? And everybody else?_

_"CeCe."_

_I turned around in a hurry, not caring if it wasn't someone I didn't need to see, and there stood Leia. After a few seconds Lacy appeared next to her, along with Sam. Finally, Ratchet came and stood up front. With a smile so big it started to hurt, i trotted towards them, reaching out with my right hand- and frowned as Ratchet backed his body away from my hand. It wasn't that kind of dream illusion, either; the kind where time slows and as you get closer to something you just seem to get farther away from it. He had physically backed away from me._

_"Ratch?" I tried again, but he just backed away again. Leia, Sam and Lacy mimicked his actions. They got as far away from me as possible as Ratchet's mouth became a scowl._

_"Disgusting," he said in a snarl. "Piece of trash- stay away from me."_

_With that being said, he and everyone else turned around and started walking away from me. Their forms began fading into the darkness as I again reached for them, yellow hair sprouting from my arm-

* * *

_

I didn't spring up in shock. I didn't scream or gasp as I awoke. I only felt sweat running down my face and tears having yet to be released stinging my eyes.

* * *

**Jesus Christ- I'm so sorry guys!**

**I know I haven't updated since the middle of November, and I wish I had a better reason than a giant writer/artist's block since then. If you're reading this, thanks so musch for being patient enough to wait for this chapter to be posted up. I really am sorry for taking so long!**

**If some things might not make sense in this chapter, I apologize; when my writer's block went away, all these things for the chapter just started pouring out and it was a bit confusing for me to type all this in.**

**Read and review! ^_^  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Ratchet and Clank!**

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**Chapter Ten  
**

I wiped the tears that had freed themselves and were now running down my face.

_Jesus, what a dream...!_ I thought, seeing as how it had woken me up at _3 am_, according to my alarm clock. If I hadn't seen the time right then, the dark surroundings of my room would of scared me shitless. I sat up straighter, rubbing my neck and stretching out my legs. I noticed Leia sleeping at my desk with the microphone next to her head. A blanket was draped down her back; mom must have came in here to cover us up. Looking over at the drum pads, I was hoping to find Ratchet in the same situation, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of my room I saw that he wasn't there. His blanket lay on the floor next to chair he had been sitting in.

Getting the guitar controller off my chest, I got off my bed and slinked my way downstairs, making sure not to wake Leia up. I looked around the living room when I made my way down, looking for any dark shapes or forms, hoping that I would find one without any problems. I even checked the kitchen, thinking that maybe Ratchet had gotten hungry. But no plates or tableware were out, no glasses or bowls. Nothing emptied from the fridge. I started to worry- until I saw a shadow coming from our porch.

"Thank God," I whispered to myself, placing my hand on my chest as if to push down my worries. I quick stepped outside and there he was, his gold fur shining under the porch light. His large ears twitched to the sound of the door opening, but he didn't turn around. The disguise device's light flashed on and off. I sat down next to him.

"Thought you were asleep," he said quietly while leaning softly against my arm, which still had goosebumps from the nightmare.

"I should be saying the same thing. You seemed pretty tired last night from playing. What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Just thinking," He paused. "...about things. You know, from before I came here." His ears drooped, a small frown forming on his muzzle. The tuff of his tail twitched a little, but didn't do much otherwise. Was something troubling him?

I turned over to look at Ratchet fully. "What's wrong?"

He furrowed his eyebrows like he was in deep concentration. He looked me straight in the eyes.

"Can I trust you with something personal? As a friend?" A serious tone was evident in his voice, telling me that he was only trusting me with someone that was so much of a bother to him. I nodded.

He sighed and looked up at the sky, all covered with stars. "A few years ago, before I crashed on Earth, I had this... friend." He took hold of my hand and squeezed, swallowing hard before he continued. This must be hard for him. After a moment he continued. "His name was- is Clank. He's a robot that had crashed on my home planet when I was sixteen. You see, I was at this place called the Apogee Space Station. And before, he had been telling me about these creatures called the Zoni. But since he was the only one that coud see him for the most part, I called him crazy and brushed it off; so when they appeared, I was amazed. But it was short-lived. Right there, right in front of me, they did something that really changed me." He looked back at me, his eyes were watered. "They abducted him, took my best friend away from me."

A memory that seemed so long ago struck my brain. "When I told you about the robot when I first found you-"

"I thought you were talking about Clank," he finished for me. A tear started to come out of the corner of his emerald eye, but his hand wiped it away before it could fall down his cheek. "It was like they had taken the only family I ever had. And ever since they took him, I spent three years out in empty space looking for him. I had left my friends without a word, never checked up with them so I could tell them I was okay. I was depressed, hurt, and mostly angry at myself because I just couldn't seem to find him, no matter how hard I tried."

"You never had a family? No brothers or sisters?"

He shook his head. "To tell you the truth- and this may seem a little cheesy or wierd- but that's why I'm glad to have met you. I finally have some company, someone to trust and be best friends with again. Like a sister." A warm smile suddenly took over the frown. "You're probably the best thing that's happened to me in years."

I ran my fingers through his hair to disguise my surprise. "Would you go back to finding Clank again?" I asked. "You know, once you finally get your ship running again?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "But if I did, I'd miss you, though." He rested his cheek on top of my head. "Thanks so much. I think if you hadn't found me and someone else had, you'd be seeing me on the news or something. I'd probably have been experimented on or killed."

I stared for a moment before closing my eyes, not really knowing what else to say at the moment, just deciding to enjoy the warmth between us and the summer night air. The silence following was peaceful, but a huge yawn escaping from my mouth gave Ratchet an excuse to speak up.

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You sound exhausted. Come on, let's get you back inside." He tried to get me to stand up. I shook my head.

"I'm not-" Another yawn betrayed my efforts. "Tired. Hey, tell me more about where you came from- that space station you mentioned a minute ago." Part of me didn't want to go to sleep because of the nightmare. Another part of me wanted to hear more about Ratchet's life. People from his galaxy, his home.

He reached towards me. "Maybe later. You need some sleep."

I crossed my arms over my chest like a stubborn child. "No."

Ratchet thought about something for a moment, smirked, and wrapped his arms around my waist before I could do anything. He then proceeded to lift me up and swing me over his left shoulder. I flailed my arms, hit his back, kicked my legs. He just chuckled.

"Fine, whatever." I sighed in defeat. He just continued to walk me into the house without another word. Another unnecessary thought of my nightmare hit me again, and I hesitated in the question I really wanted to ask him at the moment. I swallowed.

"...Ratchet?"

He slowed down. "Hm?"

"Do you think..." I was afraid he'd take it the wrong way, but soon scolded myself for even thinking he would. "Do you think you could sleep with me tonight?"

A moment passed silently as I awaited his answer. Finally, Ratchet started walking again.

"Sure," he said.

I didn't know when we finally got back to my room then, but before I knew it Ratchet was laying me on my mattress and climbing in next to me. I felt one of his arms wrap lightly around me as he used his other pull my bed's blanket onto us. After a few minutes, he was completely asleep, snoring softly. I pressed my ear against Ratchet's chest and listened to the steady _thumps_ of his heart.

_This is nice._ I thought with a smile. I looked at his now calm face. _I wish you didn't have to leave._

Finally, as I finished my thoughts, I dozed off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

**FAIL EMOTIONAL MOMENT IS FAIL D:**

**  
God, I am just so glad that this chapter didn't take me as long as the last one! xD;  
I had been busy with a few things- one including a website that I've been trying to make but seem to forget about for a while. Hopefully it won't take me much longer to finish it. I'm also trying to get started on creating my art portfolio, considering my dad gave me his from when he was in high school.  
Also, if any of you guys remember me mentioning the side story, I decided to wait until i finished this first, and then I'll work on some more of it.**

**So anyways, I really wanted to make this as emotional as possible- but seemed failed after the first ten lines... XD  
But the moment was sweet at least, right? I wanted to show that Ratchet was grateful to meet Cece, to be happy again. And how much he came to like her in the few months that he's been on Earth with Cece and her family.**

**Read and review! ^_^**


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